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Review
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Review by
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 Benjamin Stauffer
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Reviewed on
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2004-11-22
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Attention span: 6/10 Long tracks, little replay desire.
Controls: 9/10 They're pretty good overall.
Implementation: 9/10 Good racing game, great graphics.
Overall: 8/10 Race fans, give this a test drive.
Lotus Turbo Challenge is a racing game for your calculator which is based on a game for the Amiga (Lotus Turbo Challenge 2). Simply put, it is one of the best racing games I have seen for the TI-83.
You have six tracks to choose from (you can't choose a track unless you beat the one before it, besides track 1) featuring a variety of themes: snow, rain, or a night storm. You have a certain amount of time to get to the next checkpoint. Once you do, your time gets increased, and you try to get to the next checkpoint. There are about 7-10 checkpoints (it varies for each level) before the finish line. Hitting other cars or the trees on the sides of the track slows you down. You ultimately want to beat all six tracks.
The graphics were very well-done, rain or snow falls on appropriate tracks; there's lightning on the storm course, and the background picture is adjusted depending (apparently) on the slope of the road. Each track has a different theme to its graphics (the desert course has cacti on the side of the road, the storm course has lightposts, the forest course has trees, you get the idea.)
There are a few issues, however. I found it hard to try a track all over again if I ran out of time just before the finish line. I never figured out why you slowed down when you hit another car, but the opponent didn't slow down at all. AI cars also make it through sharp turns with no problem at all. The snow and rain, although nice graphics, have no effect on the track whatsoever. The tracks are very long, so you can't expect a quick two-minute race when you have some free time. Finally, I don't have a burning desire to play tracks over again after I've beaten the game, again because they are so long.
These are only minor, however. This game is still the best racing game for the TI-83, and I recommend it to anyone who likes a good racing game. |
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Review
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Review by
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Brian Gordon
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Reviewed on
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2004-04-15
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This game is truly a treat. The intense gameplay keep the player gripped to the calculator. The graphics are breathtaking: lightning cracks in the distance, rain falls down, streetlights, and trees blaze by as you go up and down hills and through tunnels and, of course, try to get the upper hand on your opponents.
However, there are a few problems. The graphics are stunning, but you pay a heavy price for them in archive space. Also, this game is very hard, and, while you can move one pixel at a time, this is one of those games where you must hit every key correctly. In some of the earlier levels, you might be able to collide with one or two things and still win, but in the later ones, you have to do everything perfectly. Another disadvantage you have is that all the other racers start out at top speed, slamming you from behind when you are trying to accelerate.
The idea of the game is to get through checkpoints and complete the level, not necessarily to win. In some of the later levels, Badja seems to have employed optical illusions such as tunnels to force the player to collide with other cars, which is incredibly annoying. The steering is reasonably tight, however, so if you know what to expect, you can usually pass through unscathed. The last three levels are excessively long and repetitive and often the player runs out of time in sight of the finish line, forcing him to retry the entire level.
Nonetheless, I recommend this game, for its initial fun and good graphics, if not for its replay value. |
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